Roadside Diner
by Child Of the Faeries
Summary: A chance encounter......


Roadside Dinnerby Child of the Faeries  
  
  
Diclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any of it's characters.  
  
  
A chance encounter................  
  
  
  
"Mimi!" a twentish man called from the bottom of the wooden stairs," Mimi, where are you?"  
  
The girl cursed under her breath as she climbed out of bed. Running her hand through her long blond hair, she dashed to the door.   
  
"What is it, Davis?" she spat out, angry. She had worked all of last night and needed her sleep.  
  
" I just wanted to remind you that you're working the bar tonight," he said, smiling.   
  
Mimi just scowled. "I know. Like you'd let me forget." She turned and walked back into her bedroom. Leaning back, she collapsed on her bed and closed her eyes.  
  
She remembered moving back to Japan after all of those years in America. She had hoped that everything was going to be normal, and she'd get to catch up with all of her friends......... but that wasn't the case.  
  
Tai and Sora were busy playing soccer professionally. While Sora had stopped by once, Tai and her had far too many things to practice and games to play to spent much time with Mimi.   
  
Izzy was head of a huge computer company. Although Mimi had called his office many times, she always got his answering machine, and he never called her back.  
  
Yolei was an assistant manager at Izzy's computer company. When she heard that Mimi was back, she came over right away. It was fun talking to her......but Mimi missed her old friends.   
  
She managed to spend a couple of evenings with Joe- a few dinner dates to catch up on old times. But Joe was married now, and his wife didn't want Joe spending too much time with her.  
  
Matt was off somewhere with his band, and Mimi never got a hold of him.   
  
Cody was in the middle of finishing his training from his grandfather. He talked to Mimi, but his quiet, serious tone always made her depressed.  
  
T.K. and Kari were engaged, and spent all of their free time working on plans for the wedding.  
  
At T.K. and Kari's wedding, Mimi finally met up with Davis. They had decided to go out for dinner, and eventually started to date regularly.  
  
Mimi wasn't sure what exactly in Davis had attracted her. Maybe it was the courageous fire that always burned in his eyes, or his unending loyalty. Anyways, they had been dating for......almost 4 years now.  
  
But three years ago, Davis had come up with this hare-brained idea to start a bar in this old run-down town out in the middle of nowhere. Mimi followed Davis there, and they opened the roadside dinner soon after. Davis did just about everything but cook, and Mimi was the barmaid in the evenings.   
  
But the excitement of this kind of life soon wore off, as did Mimi's love for Davis. Now she was tired and irritable. She hated her job, and hated pretending to be in love with Davis.  
  
She didn't want to hurt him, though. She could tell that he still loved her, and that's what pained her the most. She didn't love him, but couldn't find it in herself to tell him the truth.   
  
And so she found herself still a barmaid, and still with Davis.  
  
  
  
  
Later that afternoon, after Mimi had slept for several hours, she changed out of her pajamas and went downstairs. It was mid-afternoon, and only a few high-school kids were in the diner, eating some french fries and drinking Cokes.   
  
"Hey princess. Feeling better?" Davis said softly, snaking his arm around her waist. He kissed her softly, then smiled. " You sounded a bit angry with me earlier."  
  
Mimi sighed. "I was tired, okay? I'm going for a walk." She released herself from Davis's arms and walked out the front door.  
  
"What is wrong with her?" Davis thought outloud.  
  
  
  
Mimi walked for hours around the dusty little town, aimlessly thinking about her life. Who would have thought that I would end up here, a barmaid, dating Davis? It all just sounded so wrong. Back in New York she had been a fashion model. Did I totally screw up my life? Mimi thought to herself while walking back the diner for supper. Or was all of this for a reason?  
  
Mimi walked into the diner and grabbed herself a sandwich from the kitchen. She started to walk up the stairs when Davis stopped.  
  
"Mimi, hon, there's a couple of letters here for you," he said softly, handing her two envelopes. She took them silently and went up to her room.  
  
The first letter was from Joe. He talked a lot about work and his family-- his first child had been born the week before-- a girl! They had named it after her, "for the first girl I ever loved".   
  
"That is so sweet!" Mimi said, wiping a tear from her eye. She remembered when Joe had stayed with her in the Digital World when she didn't want to fight anymore.....but she hadn't know he'd LOVED her.  
  
The second was from T.K and Kari. Mimi had just started to read it when she looked up at a clock and realized that it was almost time for her to start work. Hurriedly, she put both letters on her bedside table and started to change.   
  
"Blast it!" she muttered to herself. "I forgot to do the laundry again!" She threw open her drawers and put on the first thing she found-- a red Superman shirt and dark blue jeans. "No one cares what I look like anyways," she told herself as she applied some lip liner.  
  
She had started to brush her hair when Davis opened her door. "There's somebody at the bar."  
  
Mimi gave her hair one last stroke before she set the brush down. "Thanks Davis," she said, giving his a kiss on the cheek as she passed.  
  
Down the wooden stairs she floated and out to the bar. When she reached it, she stopped.  
  
And stared.  
  
At the bar sat a man. He wasn't from this town. No, he couldn't be from around here. He was too cute.  
  
His hair was sandy colored and spiked to perfection. He was dressed in a silver shirt and loose black pants.   
  
But his eyes......his eyes were indescribable. Deep blue.......blue so dark that they seemed to get lost in helpless murkiness.  
  
He looked tired. And disheartened.   
  
  
  
"Hi," Mimi said brightly, smiling. "What can I get you?"  
  
The man thought for a second before ordering his drink. Mimi sat it in front of him. "So what brings you here?" she asked as the man closed his eyes and started to drink.  
  
"I'm just passing through," he said brusquely. Mimi fell silent until he ordered his next drink.  
  
"I've lived here for three years now," she said, watching Davis in the back of the diner.  
  
"It seems like a nice place to live," the man said soberly. "I don't live anywhere. Nowhere to call my home. I guess I'm just a loner."  
  
Mimi looked at him. "Surely you grew up in a loving family with lots of friends?" She couldn't possibly believe that this guy had always been a loner.  
  
"My home was ripped apart when I was very young." The man's eyes misted over for a moment as he reminisced about the past. " But yes, I did have friends. I had lots of friends."  
  
" I used to be famous," he said after his fourth drink. Mimi thought the alcohol might be affecting his thoughts. "I used to have fans follow me everywhere I went, and scream my name late into the night."  
  
"Sounds like a wonderful life," Mimi murmured softly.  
  
"It was. But I missed my friends. They all left me," he said solemnly. "They didn't care about me. I was living on the top of the world. But deep inside, I was alone."  
  
"So I left. Totally ditched my life that I once had. All my dreams deserted me." His eyes revealed a shattering deep inside, and Mimi could identify with him. Had she not thought that her life seemed pointless?  
  
"I know how you feel. I have felt alone before......but now I feel the most alone. I'm here with a man I don't think I love, doing a job that I hate. It all just seems so pointless."  
  
He regarded her for a moment. Then his next word rung out, a soft, harsh whisper. "I lost my soul."  
  
"I had nowhere to go, nobody to rely on, so I turned cold. Bitter and angry, I roam around now. There's really no place for someone like me to settle down and live in. I get drunk once and awhile, drowning out my nightmares and fears. But nothing helps. I'm alone."  
  
Mimi felt something stirring in her-- compassion? She felt a kinship to this man, whoever he was. He was so lost and afraid. She couldn't find any words of comfort to say to him, so she poured him another drink and started to wipe down the counter. The man watched her with sad, forlorn eyes.   
  
An hour or so passed and the man said nothing. He seemed lost in his own world. Davis came over around four o'clock in the morning. "Hey hon, go to bed. You need your rest. You look beat."  
  
"No, it's okay Davis. I'm fine."  
  
Davis smiled, his eyes warm and friendly." You look horrible. Go to bed and get some sleep."   
  
Mimi was shocked at Davis's genuine attempt to be kind to her. "Fine. I'll just give this man his bill and I'll head upstairs." She walked over to the man and handed him a slip of paper.  
  
"Thank you for listening to me," he said softly as he paid for his drinks.   
  
Mimi's eyes lingered on him. "I hope you find what you are looking for."  
  
The man smiled wanly and got up to leave. As he got up, his necklace fell forward, causing Mimi to see it for the first time.  
  
It was an odd shape, one that Mimi had never seen before. Yet it was familiar.  
  
  
  
Yawning, Mimi pulled off her socks and started to climb into bed. She leaned over to turn off her light, and her hand got caught on her Crest.   
  
Smiling, she put on her necklace. The Crest of Sincerity. How she missed all of her friends.......  
  
  
  
That man's necklace............ it had been a Crest. Which meant.............. Suddenly Mimi shot up in her bed and threw on her shoes and dashed outside.  
  
The man was walking slowly down the deserted street. The sun was starting to rise, creating a golden glow around them both.  
  
"Matt!" she called out desperately. She didn't know why she did this, but the man stopped. He turned around and faced her. She walked up to him and stopped at arm's length away.  
  
"How do you know my name?" he asked scornfully, proudly. Coldly.  
  
"Matt, it's me." She pulled out her Crest. "I'm Mimi."  
  
A look of dawning set across his face, and his Crest from beneath his shirt began to glow. He looked confused for a moment, then the realization seemed to hit him.  
  
"It's really you." We stared at each other in awe for a moment, and before she knew what she was doing, Mimi tipped her head back and could feel Matt's lips upon hers.  
  
This kiss was nothing ordinary. Mimi could feel Matt's emotions running underneath it, his fear and hopelessness mixing with this undeniable feeling of amazement. She could feel him, the side of him that he never let anyone ever see, just as he could see her like no one had before. They were vulnerable and exposed, and never wanted this moment to end.  
  
When he finally pulled back, Mimi leaned against his chest. She breathed deeply. She couldn't do this. Davis, her boyfriend, was just inside of the diner. He loved her and she.......she cared about him. Unexplainably, she didn't want to ever leave Davis. She started to speak, but Matt cut her off.  
  
"This is wrong. I have to go." Mimi looked up at him, dazed  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You belong here, Mimi. This is your home. You have a man that loves you, a job in which you are perfect doing, and a wonderful life just waiting to happen. Let yourself go, Mimi. Quit looking back. All you have now is the future."  
  
"And what about you? Aren't you in my future?"  
  
Matt sighed. "I will continue to chase the morning star, to capture my dreams and hopefully find the place that I truly feel like I belong. But that is not here." He looked at the rising sun. Then, more quietly, he said," I have to go."  
  
She felt her heart breaking in two. She knew he was right, and yet she didn't want him to leave. "Matt........please............"  
  
He bent down and kissed her once more. This kiss was so simple, so chaste, and yet it left her devastated. Tears rolled down her eyes as he slowly turned and walked away.  
  
The air around him turned to gold as he walked to meet the sunrise. A smile quivered on her mouth even as the tears fell from her eyes.  
  
"Mimi? Are you okay?" Davis said softly. He had just walked out of the diner and hadn't seen anything. Mimi smiled, and wiped the tears from her eyes.   
  
"Everything's fine now," she said, moving closer to him.  
  
And in the distance, she watched Matt walking to meet his destiny. She now knew hers. Hopefully, he would someday realize his.  
  
"Good luck Matt," she whispered softly.  
  



End file.
